Heat claims eight lives
Bathinda, June 17
Prolonged spell of heat in Bathinda has taken eight lives this summer so far. With the maximum temperature touching more than 40 degrees centigrade, it becomes quite difficult for the poor to survive, especially when the humidity is excessive.

A deserted road in the city on Sunday as people preferred to keep indoors due to the intense heat that has been searing the region. photo: Bhupinder Dhillon

Mistakes galore in NCERT biology text-book for +2
Bathinda, June 17
The biology textbook of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) for Plus Two classes, according to which exam papers for various competitions are set in the country, is full of glaring mistakes.Rajesh Kumar Singla

Three injured in LPG cylinder blast in city
Bathinda, June 17
A teenaged boy and girl were among three people seriously hurt in a cylinder blast on Haji Rattan road today in the evening.
The injured have been identified as 20-year-old Rupinder Kaur, their neighbour who was of similar age, Romi and a mason working in the house, Sukhvir Singh.The walls of the kitchen and a portion of the house was destroyed immediately in the LPG blast. Two of the injured are reported to be serious. Photos: Bhupinder Dhillon

MCB meet to discuss contract cancellation
Bathinda, June 17
The Municipal Corporation Bathinda's (MCB) finance and contract committee (F&CC) would be meeting on June 19 to discuss ten economic issues related with various works in the city.

Four hurt in mishaps
Bathinda, June 17
Four people were injured in a collision between two cars on the Bathinda-Rampura road. The injured have been identified as Deepak Kumar, Kewal Krishan, Kuldeep Singh, Vikram Sharma and CBS Shastri. Volunteers of Sahara Jan Sewa rushed the injured to the Civil Hospital.

Refresher course for Revenue staff
Bathinda, June 17
Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) held a two-day refresher course for the district revenue officials in Bathinda.

Smack recovered from Bathinda Central Jail
Bathinda, June 17
Three inmates lodged in the Bathinda Central Jail have been booked for possessing smack and other intoxicating material under various Sections of the NDPS Act at the Civil Lines police station.

Labour pangs

As the farmers in Punjab are facing shortage of labour during the ongoing paddy sowing season, the Bathinda railway junction has virtually turned into a conference site with scenes of farmers persuading the migrant workers to work for them becoming a common feature nowadays. Tribune Photos: Pawan Sharma

Bathinda, June 17
Prolonged spell of heat in Bathinda has taken eight lives this summer so far. With the maximum temperature touching more than 40 degrees centigrade, it becomes quite difficult for the poor to survive, especially when the humidity is excessive.

Vagabonds, labourers, the elderly, the poor and their children are at the receiving end as they hardly manage to find a space to get rid of the excessive heat accompanied by high humidity.

Volunteers of various NGOs who are active in the city, and are extending a helping hand to the poor said so far, eight people have lost their lives in the city due to the intense heat. Those who have lost their lives belong to poor families and their bodies were found lying at public places where there was no facility of cold water or shelter.

"We got a call for help from the local bus stand today in the evening at around 4 pm. We found a 24-year-old youth lying unconscious near the Chandigarh counter of the bus stand," said Vijay Goyal, president of the NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa.

Goyal said the youth was suffering from fever and his body was burning due to the heat. The doctors tried to save the boy by putting a piece of cloth soaked in water on his forehead but he could not survive. The deceased has been identified as Rahul, son of Parkash Chand. He was a ragpicker and had been residing on Ajit road.

Goyal said that those died earlier were in the age-group of 25 to 75 years.

The overexposure of the human body to the intense heat dehydrates the body and has lead to the death of poor people in the city, Goyal added.

He pointed out that due to slow evaporation, the body fails to maintain normal temperature and many of the poor who live under the open skies, lose their lives due to lack of care. "Most of the victims were picked up from the highly congested areas like bus stand and railway stations where they were overexposed to heat and suffered from acute fever due to pollution and poor quality of air," said Goyal. All the eight deceased are men. This is mostly because men dehydrate faster than women, he added.

Fact file

May 3: 50-year-old found dead at railway station.

May 3: 55-year-old resident of Arjun Nagar dies at Civil Hospital.

May 10: An unidentified 40-year-old man found dead under the water tank near Gol
Diggi.

Bathinda, June 17
The biology textbook of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) for Plus Two classes, according to which exam papers for various competitions are set in the country, is full of glaring mistakes.

"In circulation since 2006, the book has 15 mistakes that can cost dear to the medical students at a time when even an error of 0.1 marks makes a huge difference in the merit list," pointed out a local biology lecturer, Rajesh Kumar Singla.

Earlier, in 2005 too, Singla had pointed out mistakes in the NCERT book to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) , which was rectified on the intervention of the then President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He again plans to write to the MHRD requesting for fresh corrections and clarifications.

Singla points that the details mentioned in the book are so confusing that they would harm a student instead of helping him. "This is a basic book that lakhs of children follow throughout the country. Moreover, the book is not self-explanatory and students cannot understand its proposition on their own," he said.

In the absence of clarity of concepts in the NCERT, the private publishers are minting money. Shockingly enough, the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) has not even recommended the NCERT book in its syllabus section and rather mention the books of private publishers not only for biology but for physics and chemistry as well.

Singla pointed out that since private publishers do not have the services of reputed researchers, wrong information in the test-books can prove lethal for those appearing in competitive exams.

Confusion in Plus Two NCERT biology book

On page 19, under the heading archaebacteria, it is mentioned that methanogens are present in the guts of several ruminant animals such as cow and buffaloes and they are responsible for the production of methane (biogas) from the dung of these animals. The gut or guts should be made clear. The same para also has confusing statement about the type of methanogens (ruminant methanogens or saprophyle methanogens) that produce methane. It needs to be cleared which data is more correct.

On the same page, under the heading eubacteria, mention has been made of cynobacteria being unicellular, colonial or filamentous, marine or terrestrial. There are no examples of unicellular cynobacteria mentioned. Also, in the given para, fresh water habitat has not been mentioned.

On page 23, under the heading , phycomycetes there are mention of zygospores formed by the fusion of two gametes. It is unclear if its zygospores or zygospore. Also in class phycomycetes, instead of zygospore, oospore is produced by the fusion of two gametes.

In the same para, mention made of mucor and rhizopus is confusing. It should be made clear whether these are examples of phycomycetes or class
zygomycetes.

Sample this...

Life span of a tortoise mentioned in the NCERT book is 100 to 150 years, while in the widely read private publishers' book, it is 200 years. Similarly, the number of national parks mentioned in the NCERT book is 90, while that in other books varies from 91 to 96. Even the number of sanctuaries and biosphere reserves differ. NCERT mentions 448 sanctuaries in the country, while the other books put this number at 500. NCERT mentions 14 biospheres and other books put this number at 17. "If the NCERT figures are wrong, it should upgrade itself. Else, the NCERT books should be removed and the students should be directed to study the particular books of private publishers. The students are being forced to gulp down uncooked food (wrong information), which would ultimately upset their stomach (career)," Rsjesh Kumar pointed out.

In 2005 too, Singla had pointed out mistakes which was rectified on the intervention of the then President of India, Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam.

Bathinda, June 17
A teenaged boy and girl were among three people seriously hurt in a cylinder blast on Haji Rattan road today in the evening.

The injured have been identified as 20-year-old Rupinder Kaur, their neighbour who was of similar age, Romi and a mason working in the house, Sukhvir Singh.

The LPG cylinder burst at around 7 pm. Local residents and volunteers of the NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa, reached the place and helped in shifting the injured to the Civil Hospital. The volunteers said the girl and the mason are quite serious and have been referred to a private hospital on Barnala road.

Volunteers of Sahara said preliminary reports suggest that the girl was cooking something and when she noticed the LPG cylinder leaking. She ten went to switch off the refrigerator when the LPG cylinder exploded. Residents said they had witnessed such a blast for the first time in their area. Police too reached the place and enquired into the incident.

The walls of the kitchen and a portion of the house collapsed immediately after the blast. It took a while for people to enter the house and trace the people trapped inside.

Bathinda, June 17
The Municipal Corporation Bathinda's (MCB) finance and contract committee (F&CC) would be meeting on June 19 to discuss ten economic issues related with various works in the city.

The Corporation has mooted the proposal of cancelling the contract awarded to Shubham Creators for advertising on plates installed on the grills of the divider at the Mall Road. The agency has not paid yearly advertisement tax (Rs 2,070,000) despite repeated reminders.

The agency was awarded contract to use 920 plates for advertisement purposes and 460 plates for writing slogans given by the MCB. The agency was given contract on July 15 last year. It was served reminders to submit the entertainment tax. The company refused to pay tax at the rate of Rs 450 per plate and stated that it would pay a mere Rs 22 to Rs 50 per plate.

The agency has also been served show-cause notice more than ten days ago but the MCB is still waiting for its response. Legal proceedings would be initiated against it to recover the tax amount.

Taking advantage of the lackadaisical attitude of the corporation, even agencies involved in laying roads have started taking a lenient view of the show-causes notices served to it. Besides Shubham Creators, even the Krishna Construction Company (entrusted with the work of laying carpet premix on the roads and streets in ward number 20) chose not to reply to the show-cause notice served to it.

The agency had laid premix carpet in August last year. The Corporation wrote

to it on February 22 stating that repairs be done on the potholed roads. The agency replied stating that it would be done after the foggy season is over. However, the agency did not carry out any work, nor did it reply to the show-cause notice served on April 12.

The Corporation has also proposed to forfeit the security of Rs 75, 960 of the aforesaid agency. The corporation has decided to outsource the de-silting of sewer at Thandi Sarak despite giving Rs 1.8 crore to the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board annually. For the de-silting at Thandi Sarak, using super sucker machines, tenders were invited on May 14 and bids from three companies would be discussed and decided upon.

Committee would also decide on paying Rs 1,59,402 as overtime to its fire brigade employees who were deputed from October 2, 2011 to October 9, 2011 at the Maiserkhana annual mela. These also include employees who were deployed during the agitation against the Gobindpura thermal power plant of Peona Powers on September 23 & 24, 2011 and October 9 to October 25, 2011.

Interlocking tiles would be laid in the narrow streets of Paras Ram Nagar where roads cannot be laid due to ramps before houses and electricity poles. These would include street number 10/2 and branches of the area.

Bathinda, June 17
Four people were injured in a collision between two cars on the Bathinda-Rampura road. The injured have been identified as Deepak Kumar, Kewal Krishan, Kuldeep Singh, Vikram Sharma and CBS Shastri. Volunteers of Sahara Jan Sewa rushed the injured to the Civil Hospital.

The volunteers said one of the cars were coming towards Bathinda and the other towards Barnala. Two of the passengers received injuries and were referred to other hospitals in view of their serious condition.

In another incident, a resident of Guru Arjan Dev Nagar was injured in
an accident on Dabwali road. The injured, Kewal Singh was taken to the Civil Hospital. He car suffered a fractured in the leg.
— TNS

Bathinda, June 17
Police have booked a resident of Ganganagar for cheating a person in Bathinda on the pretext of helping his son get a job in the Railways at Jammu.

The accused Raj Kumar has been booked by the Kotwali police under section 420 of the IPC on the complaint of Kuldip Singh, a resident of Mini-secretariat Road, Bathinda.

The officials of the economic offences wing (EOW) said many cases, where parents eager to get their sons government jobs are cheated, come to light.

Policemen investigating such cases said many a time, the accused return the money only after the registration of cases. "There are many who return the money once they are threatened with police action. Others return the money after the registration of cases under various sections of the IPC for cheating,” said the EOW officials. There are many who return the money when they came to know that they would soon be arrested by the police and will have to go to jail.

Police said the members of these gangs become active whenever government jobs are advertised in newspapers. This time, the victim was caught in the web of the accused when a large number of posts were advertised by the Railway Board in Jammu. These fraudsters remain in touch with the middlemen and the victims through mobile phones and the Internet, the police cautioned.

Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav (third from left) during the concluding day of the two-day refresher course for the district revenue officials in Bathinda on Sunday. A Tribune Photograph

Bathinda, June 17
Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) held a two-day refresher course for the district revenue officials in Bathinda.

Speaking on the concluding day of the course, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said one should keep abreast with the latest technology and use it in one's work and also update the knowledge about the respective sector.

Yadav said that the revenue department was the backbone of the state government and the last few years had seen changes introduced in different rules and regulations and it was pivotal for the existing employees to be updated about the changes.

Such refresher courses are meant to update employees about the changes, imbibed in day-to-day working, Yadav said, and informed the officials about the new changes during the discussions.

Earlier, at the inaugural ceremony of the course, district coordinator, MGSIPA, Mandeep Singh informed the participants about various topics of discussion. Chief guest, SDM Bathinda, Rambir, called upon the participants to derive the maximum benefit from such courses.

Resource person Vinod Kumar Bansal talked about the methods pertaining to the division of agricultural land, important instructions for filing application for the same, documents to be prepared by the field staff, ways of filing objections, among others.

Resource person Vinod Kumar Bansal talked about methods pertaining to division of agricultural land, important instructions for filing application for the same, documents to be prepared by the field staff, ways of filing objections and others.

Bathinda, June 17
Three inmates lodged in the Bathinda Central Jail have been booked for possessing smack and other intoxicating material under various Sections of the NDPS Act at the Civil Lines police station.

A case was registered against the inmates afterthe jail superintendent lodged a complaint with the police. The accused have been identified as Satvir Singh, Ajaib Singh, both residents of Mansa and Gurtej Singh of Kotra Kaurian Wali village.

A case under Sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against them.

One crushed under speeding bus

A speeding bus crushed a cyclist, a resident of Guru Nanakpura, on Dabwali road near Ganpati Enclave. The driver of the bus, bearing the registration number of Rajasthan, fled leaving the bus after the accident.

The deceased has been identified as Amresh Thakur. The unidentified bus driver has been booked by the police under Sections 304-A, 279 and 427 of the IPC at the Canal Colony police station.

Bir Talab resident arrested with smack

Police has arrested a resident of Bir Talab village with four grams of smack. The accused Sandeep Singh Seepa was booked by the police for further investigations under Sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act at Sadar police station.

Seven booked for firing, stealing

Police has booked seven persons for firing gunshots and injuring a farmer and stealing goods kept in a hut on his agricultural land.

Complainant Mohtam Singh of Blahar Mehma said the accused fired from their rifle that hit his right leg. He said the accused fired gunshots to kill him. Some onlookers rushed the victim to a nearby hospital. He said that afterthe firing the gunshots, the accused then took away material worth nearly Rs 4,500 from a hut situated on his agricultural land. The accused booked by the police have been identified as Jagtar Singh, Gurtej Singh, Sukhjeevan Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Karamvir Singh, Harjinder Singh and Bogar Singh, all residents of Blahar Mehma village.

A case under Sections 307, 427, 379, 148, 149 and 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against the seven accused.

Woman arrested with drugs

A woman residing in Kotha Guruka has been arrested by the police for possessing habit-forming drugs without having any valid licence or documents.

The accused has been identified as Amarjeet Kaur. She has been booked under Sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act at Diyalpura police station.

Six booked for kidnapping newly-wed

Police has booked six persons including two women for kidnapping and beating a newly-wed man for marrying with a girl against the wishes of her family members.

Complainant in the case, Rajwinder Singh of Ubba village of Mansa said the accused woman, Parwinder Kaur, along with three others, attacked his cousin Kulwinder Singh. He said Kulwinder had married the sister of the main accused, Parwinder. They got the marriage registered at the Punjab and Haryana High Courts.

The family members of the girl, when they came to know about the marriage, asked the boy to meet them. When the boy went to meet them, the family members attacked him, fired gunshots at him and bundled him away in a car.